Archive for
Producer's Picks

When my colleagues asked me to write about my favorite AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, I was kind of shocked. I mean, I'm sort of the new kid on the team, having joined the production in March as the marketing account manager. Before March, I was more like most of you — longtime viewer and living room commenter. Over the years, this series has blown my mind and tugged at my heart strings, raised my blood pressure and caused me to sob uncontrollably with stories that I never knew, or knew enough of. None had moved me more than the 2010 film Freedom Riders.

For over 50 years, the CINE Golden Eagle Award has signified excellence within the film and television industry. From emerging filmmakers to industry pioneers, the twice-yearly CINE Golden Eagle Competition is home to the best of film, television, and digital media.

This Fall, American Experience will celebrate its 25th anniversary. That's 25 years of documentaries broadcast on PBS -- 287 films, 399 hours of programming, and 428 nights of television. Everyone has a favorite, including all of us on staff at American Experience, and we want to share that with you. As part of our 25th anniversary celebration, we are going to publish a Staff Favorite Film blog post every month, starting today.

Last week we asked our fans on Facebook and Twitter what has been your favorite AMERICAN EXPERIENCE film over the past two seasons. You gave us a great response, and we would like to share the results. Many of the films are streaming for free on our website, so if you have not had the chance to see some of the films listed below, you never know -- you may soon have a new favorite!

When we first began the task of tackling the history of abolitionism four years ago, we were faced with a daunting task: the movement spanned decades, the leaders were numerous, the history complicated and the scholarly literature voluminous. And yet there was no book that told the overarching story of the abolitionists, and no guide for capturing the courage and struggles of these remarkable civil rights heroes. We decided that the way to grab the attention of a broad television audience was to focus on a handful of key characters -- that is, to create a character-driven mini-series set against the backdrop of a tumultuous time in American history.